"To God Be the Glory, Great Things He Hath Done!"

To God Be the Glory

Text: Fanny J. Crosby

Music: William H. Doane

1. To God be the glory, great things he hath done!

So loved he the world that he gave us his Son,

who yielded his life an atonement for sin,

and opened the lifegate that all may go in.

Refrain:

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

let the earth hear his voice!

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

let the people rejoice!

O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son,

and give him the glory, great things he hath done!

2. O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,

to every believer the promise of God;

the vilest offender who truly believes,

that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

(Refrain)

3. Great things he hath taught us, great things he hath done,

and great our rejoicing thru Jesus the Son;

but purer, and higher, and greater will be

our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

(Refrain)

This wonderful hymn by Fanny J. Crosby has been my favorite since I was a young girl. The words reflect the omnipotence and sovereignty of God throughout time and beyond. We owe Him our praise and honor. Ps 136:4 To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.

When I went into surgery Monday morning, Oct. 5th, I was surrounded by the power of God through the prayers of our faithful family and friends– what peace I had! The surgery went well, and I was able to be discharged Wednesday afternoon.

This knee replacement has been better than my first one, two years ago. I believe the increased prayers on my behalf have made the difference– to God be the glory!

Thank you all for being the body of Christ in action in your prayers for me. May God richly bless you with His unfailing joy!

New Knee!

What a blessing that God has allowed man to discover ways to replace a knee, or hip! Truly, in Him "are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Colossians 2:3

Two years ago I had my right knee replaced-- what a difference it has made in my ability to move pain free! Last summer was the first time in years that I have been able to have a vegetable garden. This summer we also had a garden, but arthritis has taken its toll, and I will be having my left knee replaced October 5th.

Pain will be my companion a bit longer as it took me at least seven months to adjust to my first knee replacement and get past the pain of physical therapy and the repairing of tissues after surgery. Knowing in advance what to expect of the healing process is a blessing, and I have peace knowing that "this, too, shall pass!"

Holy Scriptures are full of encouragement to us frail humans as we encounter difficult and painful times:

John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Psalms 31:7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;

Psalms 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

Psalms 63:7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

Joel 2:21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.

Psalms 30:5b in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Psalms 103:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Psalms 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

Psalms 103:22 Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.

Psalms 104:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.

The Long Wait Is Over!

After many false alarms, common in first pregnancies, we finally have a beautiful healthy granddaughter! Our bags had been packed for many days, and when we finally got the call, we left home, driving the eight hours to Ohio hoping to get to the hospital in time to see our newest family member.

Wouldn't you know, the hospital had sent the mother home-- another false alarm! But God in His divine Providence had ordered all things for the best. We had a relaxing night 's sleep at my step-daughter's home, and were present when the real contractions began Thursday September 10. By 11 at night, she called her doctor who confirmed that she should go to the hospital.

My husband, his younger daughter and I sat up and tried to find comfortable positions in the waiting room chairs most of the night. By 6 a.m. we decided enough was enough, and headed back to the house to await the birth announcement!

Corey called at 1:30 p.m. to announce, "The head is crowning!" We got back into the car and made it to the hospital in time to see our 20 minute old granddaughter nursing and bonding with her mother! We stayed another day, and met Corey's mother and sisters who had driven from Indiana to meet Madalynne Carol!

We are back home in West Virginia, and have spoken with Jessica several times in two days, with the good news that mom and baby are getting along well-- not much sleep for the parents, yet!

What a blessing it was for me to be with my step daughter for part of her labor, and to rejoice together with her in the safe delivery of her healthy baby! Children are the heritage of the Lord, and grandchildren are the icing on the cake!

Psalms 27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Lady in Waiting

For 21 times in the past 12 years, I have been a lady in waiting-- waiting for the phone call telling us a new grandchild was on the way or had already been born! This week I have been once more a "lady-in-waiting," ever since my stepdaughter informed us of her baby's "imminent" arrival. Little Maddie is due September 9th, but first babies mostly defy that deadline. Not wanting to discourage the family, we told them we would pack our bags and be ready when they called with directions to the hospital. Still we wait.

What a blessing grandchildren are! As we have watched them developing their distinct personalities, a unique sense of humor, and observed them relating to their parents, siblings, others, and us, we see the hand of God fitting each one into His design for contented families.

How startling to discover that David has his grandfather's cowlicks, or that Douglas inherited Grandma's "bird" shaped ears; that the darling brunette has turned into a stunning curly headed blond! Jeffrey has been "grown up" and very serious about his future life since age 2; by age two, William displayed the most advanced vocabulary and maturity! John, Alex, and Thomas are master Lego builders with creativity in engineering design that boggles our old brains! And the girls are truly feminine wonders, creative at work and play! The very much non-identical twins are best buddies. The youngest ones smile their biggest smiles for Grammie and Grandpa, and we are totally in love with all.

What will this newest one be like? And the little girl coming in November, and the mystery one coming next April? Ah! The joy and anticipation of a lady-in-waiting!

Psalms 127 and 128:

1 ¶ A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

1 ¶ A Song of degrees. Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways.

2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.

4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.

5 The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.

6 Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel.

Second Childhood?

Well, I finally gave in and let my husband Ovid buy a bike! And what a bike! We rode it Sunday afternoon for about a half hour, laughing so hard we could hardly pedal! Yes, we bought a bicycle built for two! On our way home from the Martinsburg Hospital where Ovid had an echo cardiogram (routine test), we saw a man selling bikes from his front yard, so we stopped to look. He adjusted the front seat for me and told us it is hard for a man to adjust to being in the back seat where the power pedals are-- men normally want to be in the driver's seat, so it takes communication, coordination and working together to really get adjusted to a bicycle for two. As newly weds (8 years), we can always learn more about communication and working together!

Well, we took it for a test ride Sunday afternoon, since the man who sold it to us said if we did not like it, we could bring it back. We got on, balanced ourselves, and headed down the hill-- what fun! With cool air whizzing past our faces, the exhilaration was great! We felt like children released from an unwanted chore to go flying out the door! That is, until Ovid thought I was going into the ditch on the side of the road and got frustrated that his handle bars attached to my seat did NOT give him the power to turn the bike! The seller told us the bike would be different than a single seater-- we just had to learn HOW different! It also did not help that my seat was slightly loose and when Ovid tried to steer from the back, he kept turning my seat! We were laughing so hard we had to stop in the middle of the road-- my tears were blinding my steering ability!

Ovid had brought the tools to reset my seat, and once he could not move my seat around, we managed to have a great ride! It sure is a cardiac workout on the uphill-- I was in a full sweat. But the exercise for my knees is wonderful. I can feel the workout on my thighs and flexibility on my knees without so much weight bearing pain as when we take walks. My left knee gets replaced Oct. 5th, and hopefully I can strengthen my muscles in both legs before the surgery, and also ride the bike after surgery to restore flexibility in the left knee. God is so good! We have not laughed that hard in ages!

Thought you would want to know what us old folks are up to!

Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

Thoughts on Aging

As a goal oriented, type A person, I have always had my plate full. When I was first married, I taught in a Christian school while my husband was in seminary, and also did the ordinary wifely things of homemaking and hospitality. When our children were born, I no longer taught at school, but continued homemaking and hospitality, and added the feeding, diapering, training and discipling to my duties as a wife. Balancing those things was sometimes difficult, as it was easy to let some things fall by the wayside. I now had to work hard at not neglecting my first job-- that of wife to my husband!

Then we added homeschooling to our list of priorities. The first year was hard as our children complained that it was not "real" school and I was not like their teacher from "real" school! Enter Daddy, the husband, father, homeschool Principal! Over the years we both learned to "balance" quite a lot of activities. My husband was very helpful in helping me decide what new tasks to take on-- praise God for His plan of submission! It was great to be able to say, "My husband does not feel I can do that at this time."

When the children grew up and married, I had to learn what to do with time again. I volunteered to wash dishes for Senior Citizen lunches at church, taught a couples Sunday School class with my husband, and continued upholstering and custom sewing for other people, as I had time in between homemaking and hospitality.

When I was widowed at 52, EVERYTHING changed! For four years, God sent other activities to fill my days and I eventually adjusted to the loss of my husband. I still was active in homemaking, hospitality, church activities, and sewing, but now God added grandchildren, and mentoring and discipling younger women to my plate. What a joy that has been!

When I remarried at 56, God gave me lots of new activities, including moving across country twice in a little over a year! Homemaking, hospitality, sewing, mentoring and being wife, stepmother, and grandmother to a growing tribe of Blessings completely filled my plate again. God is so good!

Yesterday, I realized my days of multi-tasking may be limited! As I was pinning a slipcover together, I pricked my finger and bloodied my hand. On my way to the kitchen to wash off the blood to avoid staining the fabric, I spotted the hummingbird syrup cooling on the stove. So I picked up the pan on my way to the sink, and poured the syrup into the hummingbird feeder. I noticed an ant walking around the edge of the pan, so as soon as I finished filling the feeder, I set it down to rinse the ant down the drain. Suddenly I was covered with syrup flowing over the counter onto my dress and the floor! I had set the feeder onto the counter without first putting on the bottom part and turning the feeder over so it could stand without dripping. How many times have I filled the feeder in my life?!

Yes, I know that is a silly matter on which to base my conclusion that I can no longer multi-task, but it showed me that I AM aging and cannot expect to do so many things at once as I once was able to do. I walk into a room looking for something and spot some task I have not done, do it; then realize I should also clean my desk, or maybe finally add to my blogs, and a few minutes later, my husband walks in to ask me why the kitchen faucet is running in an empty sink!

My dreams lately have been of having a day when I can sit down and read a book all the way through in one sitting, instead of taking weeks to read it between other daily chores. Or of having a day when I can really clean out the flower beds, instead of just watering them occasionally because I must pick the vegetables in the garden and can them before the next batch comes in-- and guests are coming for supper, and I have not finished folding the laundry yet. I used to be able to do all those things at once without even thinking.

I believe God prepares us for each stage in our lives, and His preparation for me now may be to slow down and gratefully accept my limitations so that when the time comes when I may be really limited, I will not stress about it and complain that I cannot do all that I once did. Praise God, I may get to slow down and read that book in one sitting after all!

Psalms 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

Tribute to a wife

A few years ago as we traveled down Rt. 221 South near Louisville, GA, we happened to see a sign for a Revolutionary War cemetery. Curious, we pulled off the highway and followed the dirt road back to a small cemetery tucked among the pines. We wandered among the stones in the dappled light, reading the tributes to soldiers and others who lived more than a hundred years ago.

A massive monument with writing on four sides caught our eyes and we thought it must be a tribute to an important soldier.  Here are the words that so captivated us:

A Christian Woman 

is the highest, best gift of God to earth: and here lies one of its brightest exemplifications!

Christianity was with her a sentiment deeply interwoven in all her thoughts, feelings, and affections.

Kind and benevolent, unexacting and charitable, brilliant but humble--

Vigorous in intellect, sweet and lovely in person, meek and gentle in disposition--

her life and character have left their impress indelibly fixed in the heart of those whose wise counselor, and devoted partner, she was through all the vicissitudes of an eventful though brief career.

Though married when young, ardent and hopeful, in the midday splendor of youthful hopes and aspirations, she entered upon her domestic duties with an energy and devotion which could feel no decline; and by the purity and vigor of her own character she won from the most slavish passions, him whose welfare was her highest happiness, and whose character was her own handiwork.

Her exalted mission accomplished-- she laid down her Cross,

Took up her Crown,

and now sweetly rests in the bosom of her Savior.

MY WIFE

Mary H.    daughter of Mary & Dr. Wm. Savage

wife of Col. A.R. Wright

born Dec. 28, 1825    married Apr. 26, 1843

died June 23, 1851

What a tribute to a true I Peter 3 wife!  "1 ¶  Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;

2  While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.

3  Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;

4  But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

5  For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:

6  Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.